Wilson has a signed a multi-year deal with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to supply official game balls for it and its related leagues. Wilson is replacing Spalding, which has supplied the NBA’s balls for past eight years. Before that, Wilson had been the official supplier since 1946. No details have been disclosed about the price of the new contract, but we can assume that the new Chinese owners of Wilson’s parent company, Amer Sports, wanted it because the NBA has a big clout in China, where basketball is the second-largest team sport after global football. The new deal will take effect on staggered dates varying by league. Balls for the NBA itself will make their debut in 2021, with the start of its 75th-anniversary season. Balls for the NBA G League and the NBA 2K League should come out next year, with the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) to follow in 2022. Wilson was supposed to start supplying balls to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) in March, for its inaugural season, but the league’s first tip-off has been postponed over the Covid-19 pandemic. No new date has been set.

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